SALT | What you NEED to Know About!

Eating too much salt is bad for your health!  We know this, we see the adverts but do you know why?

Salt can raise your blood pressure and having high blood pressure tripples your chances of heart disease and stroke.

Adults should eat no more than 6g of salt per day.

Children should eat even less!

DID YOU KNOW THAT 75% OF THE SALT WE EAT IS ALREADY IN THE FOOD WE BUY?

Do you really need to put salt on your food???

So if you know what you are looking for, you can start choosing foods that are lower in salt.

HOW TO LOOK OUT FOR SALT WHEN YOU’RE SHOPPING:

Check the label to see how much salt is in the food per 100g.  Then you can work out if the food is high, medium or low in salt, using this scale.

LOW:

0g – 0.3g (Healthy Choice)

MEDIUM:

0.4g – 1.5g (OK most of the time)

HIGH:

1.6g – 2g (Eat small amounts, or just occasionally)

Multiply sodium by 2.5 to find out the salt level.

Choose Products that are LOW in salt – Choose products that are 0.8g Salt per 100g or below.

Tips for cutting down on SALT:
Choose a lower salt sandwich filling, such as chicked salad or poached salmon, instead of high salt fillings such as ham, or cheese and pickle.

Go easy on smoked foods, these can be high in salt.

Choose vegetable or chicken toppings on your pizza, instead of pepperoni, bacon or extra cheese.

Go for vegetables and pulses without added salt.

Go easy on the ketchup, soy sauce, mustard, pickles and mayonnaise (these can be high in salt).

Try to get out of the habit of adding salt when you’re cooking and at the table.

Use herbs, garlic and chilli to add flavour to cooking, instead of salt.

Choose unsalted nuts instead of salted or dry roasted.

Eat plain popcorn as a snack instead of crisps.

 

Source: The Foods Standards Agency

www.salt.gov.uk

 

 

Category: Health News, Nutrition, Nutrition (weightloss)